$100-million Little Tokyo apartment complex to be developed

Construction of a long-planned 240-unit apartment complex in the Little Tokyo district of downtown Los Angeles will more forward with a new developer.

Irvine-based Sares-Regis Group bought a 1.74-acre parking lot at 2nd and San Pedro streets where it will build a $100-million apartment community. The complex was planned years ago by the seller, the Related Cos., which has developed other apartment buildings nearby.

Little Tokyo, near City Hall, is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in the area. Additional apartments, restaurants and shops have arrived in the last decade.

“Little Tokyo has had shopping and housing for a long time,” said Bill Montgomery, president of multifamily development for Sares-Regis. “We think it’s a dynamic little enclave in the middle of downtown.”

Sares-Regis expects to start work in March on a seven-story complex that will include apartments, town houses, shops and a public parking garage. It will have a pool, fitness club and rooftop outdoor deck.

The developer, and financial partner Pritzker Realty Group, expect most tenants will be young professionals who work downtown and would like to be able to walk to their jobs. Average monthly rent will be about $2,200, Montgomery said.

Sares-Regis has a portfolio of more than 13,000 apartments that it owns or manages.

“We are in expansion mode,” Montgomery said. “Nobody built much in the last four or five years.”

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